3. Chapter Three
Chapter Three
Rune didn’t speak, but the smirk on his lips that I’d gotten accustomed to curled into a sneer.
Shoes scuffed on the stone floor behind me before whoever Rune’s sword aimed at spoke. “There’s no need for that, brute. I was only going to talk to her.”
That voice.
I’d likely hear it later as well. The son of Crysia’s general was a tool who used his father’s position over others. He thought of himself as royalty despite not having a gem core like all true royals had.
Harron had a fox core, and it truly encompassed his looks and personalities. All Fae housed a power of nature in them. Royals were the only ones with a gem, like my mother’s diamond core, or my sapphire one.
Harron pushed his scraggily hair away from his face and watched as I turned around with an unimpressed mask on. He shifted from one foot to another and smiled when our gaze connected. He looked half-tempted to shift into a fox, or at the very least laugh like one.
Rune snarled behind me.
Would he slice Harron up right here in the bakery? I almost had the nerve to test him. But I wouldn’t do Laura the dishonor. Plus, dealing with his father would be too much of a pain.
“What, Harron?” I yawned.
He looked at me, then Rune’s sword, and stepped back.
“Never mind. I’ll talk to you later when this savage isn’t around.” Harron sneered and I heard a few snickers come from the entryway. His little low level guard buddies were here for backup.
Did they not feel the “don’t fuck with Rune” energy cascading off him? It couldn’t be just me.
Harron left with his friends and I stood, my arms reaching up to stretch.
“Laura, thank you for the pastry. You were right, it stole the title of favorite.”
I gave the baker a hug and nodded to the brute sheathing his black sword. It was unique, like the male himself.
“Come on, I need to walk that pastry off before my date and you owe me a good conversation.” I waved Rune on and he shook his head but followed.
He mentioned being here for family business but travelling through the Hallowstags was a choice not many would make.
Usually, people travelled on the stone road and passed through our gates. If travelers came from the human portal, they would be greeted by the tree guards on the Yosemite side.
The only answer I could come up with as we walked around and I told him about the kingdom was he didn’t want to be seen by anyone official.
I should have called the guards, but I wanted to know more. Something in me wouldn’t allow our time to end until it had to.
As we made our trek through the palace, the silver armored guards watched the stranger with me but didn’t say anything when I shot them a look not to.
Not that Rune was super warm, but I didn’t want the dynamic to change. Him to treat me differently if he knew I was the princess.
The roaring of the waterfall soothed the anxious feelings fluttering in my stomach as we neared. “While I love bustling life in Crysia,” I said, “places like this have always been my favorite part of the kingdom.”
Rune looked around the field and the water gushing off the side of a rock wall into the river. During the hot months, I’d come cool off in the deeper sections near the falls with my handmaiden Nyx.
The warrior lowered himself to the ground and I plopped beside him most ungracefully.
“I like this.” He exhaled, and despite not officially knowing what he liked, I nodded. I liked this too. The view was nice, and the company was soothing in a way I couldn’t explain.
A frown formed on his lips and that I didn’t like. He had a nice smile.
“I think we both know that this time is almost over. And I doubt we’ll see each other again. Crysia is big and well… your family business may not be near mine.” I sighed. Explaining the obvious felt silly. It meant nothing. Rune and I were a passing moment in a long immortal life.
He lifted his hand to the three scars on his face. “My father did this.”
The scars? His father?
With Fae speed, I reached out and touched the scars, eyes wide.
The tips of my fingers were an inch away when reason reminded me that I couldn’t.
I retreated but his hand wrapped around my sleeved wrist.
My heart pounded against my sternum.
“You can,” he said so softly, and I wanted to.
Except telling him that I’d take some of his power could lead him to knowing who I was. What if he changed? What if he thought of me as a power thief or worse?
“I can’t. But not because I don’t want to. I’m sorry, Rune.”
He dropped my wrist and I hadn’t noticed how close we were until that moment.
My gaze zeroed in on his lips, and I licked my own. “Keep talking, please. I like your voice.”
I didn’t move away, and neither did he. We opted to keep the mere six inches between us even with the magnetic air drawing us closer by the second.
His throat bobbed and icy gaze watched me through hooded eyes.
“He wanted everyone to know I was cursed,” he rumbled. “To fear me and stay away.”
Staying away was the furthest thing I wanted to do.
He growled low in his throat and I moved closer. What was happening to me? I was meeting my future husband tonight. I needed to cool the air. The thick and burning desire wafting between us was mouthwatering.
Quick Sapphira, close your eyes. Sever the connection.
I closed my eyes and cleared the lump in my throat. “I don’t think you’re cursed.”
Not that I knew him well enough to truly make the claim. But even with whatever dangerous beast inside him, I felt it in my gut.
I’ve never believed in that type of magic. Cursed people. Everyone had the opportunity to choose whether they were good, bad, or somewhere in the middle.
Speaking of good, I was currently being a bad girl with Rune. I really shouldn’t get so heated on the precipice of my engagement. Prince Torin would be here soon.
I opened my eyes and mouth to speak but he got there first.
“I must go.”
My insides twisted hearing those words coming out of his mouth.
“Me too.”
Rune turned forward to look at the waterfall and his jaw tightened. “To your date,” he said and my body sagged.
“Yeah. Whether he’s right for me or not, my parents want me to give it a go, so I’ll try.” You’d think being an adult would give me the right to do as I please but being a princess and the only royal heir of Crysia changes things. I had to think of my people, not just myself.
I stood first, at a loss for words. Why did parting feel so wrong? My chest ached, and that lump I’d cleared from my throat was back.
Rune faced me and pushed a lock of hair away from my face. He seemed purposefully careful not to touch my skin. “Do me a favor and don’t lose your fire.”
He turned and walked away without waiting for me to speak. I could say so many things, and he’d hear me even as he wandered back toward the shops.
I could promise to do his favor.
I could tell him to come back and kiss me.
But neither came out.
“Goodbye, Rune,” I whispered into the wind and left to get ready for my arranged future.